PJ Harvey, August 19, 2016 at the Fonda

PJ Harvey has always been an interesting creature. Once she had some the pull from a quasi-hit in the alt-mid-’90s, she went from rough demo-level catharses to changing up her sound from the ground up with each album, which became an event unto themselves. This also led to some wholesale inconsistencies, sometimes just in alternating albums, and the moments of brilliance had to do a lot of work to make up for the lesser stuff. Still, in concert to present new stuff, she would pull in the older stuff to match it and somehow make it flow seamlessly, or at least put a new spin on material we’d gotten used to. She didn’t even have make a statement as an artist, she just did it. Still, lesser moments existed but with some rejigging weren’t an albatross in the modern shows if the new material didn’t drag them down on its own. Some of the albums took a while to come around to, and often they would work out anyway (save for the still-challenging Is This Desire?), but we were still waiting on The Hope Six Demolition Project. By the time for that show I still hadn’t found official word if that project was a side experiment or if it was an official album intended for the same level as the rest, with the attendant tour and all accompanying a full-on album release, and the fact that I had to wonder might say it all (or just take it for granted that it's all official). But every release gets its shows (at least in L.A.) and we probably would have gone anyway no matter what she was playing for. We’d had tickets for the next night at the Shrine well in advance but when Carla had a chance for the Fonda show that was announced just before, even trading a Friday night for a Thursday, we went for it (though she was playing much the same set each night, so the only big difference was the smaller and closer venue). Unfortunately, the show didn’t do anything more to sell the album/project but she had enough of the old stuff -- not being too much of an artiste to eschew the stuff the crowd might have known (and liked) more -- and reconfigured it to make it interesting for herself, if not us. In her habit of learning a new instrument and writing each new album with it, this was the one with the saxophone, which must have been ill-advised, even beyond its being out of style to the point of ironic/non-ironic ridiculousness, it at least was a way to change up her stuff. This was also the tour where she filled the stage with musicians, evidently to reach the sonic ranges she needed for the material, but it sure looked crowded up there. It might have been better to approach the material as a project instead of a release expecting the same respect that her other stuff has gotten, even the weird stuff, but as a show, even at worst it could be performance art that gets appreciation from what she’s given us for so long and how much we love her.  So, in total, a score for experimenting with the familiar (even trotting out that familiar alt-mid-’90s quasi-hit), but a failure in trying to make something moving from these experiments.

PJ Harvey’s set-list:
“Chain of Keys“
“The Ministry of Defence“
“The Community of Hope“
“The Orange Monkey“
"A Line in the Sand“
“Let England Shake“
“The Words That Maketh Murder“
“The Glorious Land“
“Medicinals“
“When Under Ether“
“Dollar, Dollar“
“The Wheel“
“The Ministry of Social Affairs“
“50ft Queenie“
“Down by the Water“
“To Bring You My Love“
“River Anacostia“

“Near the Memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln“
“A Perfect Day Elise“

Autolux, July 23, 2016 at the El Rey

There was a time when it seemed like Autolux were everywhere. Their management was wise enough to put them in every festival just when that was becoming a thing in the summer of ‘05, though that they were playing so close to their home turf in SoCal seemed to be capitalizing on what they already had. Then opening for NIN & QOTSA at the Hollywood Bowl, which was an accomplishment for a young band, even if the members had been in other bands that had deserved to go farther than they did. So the group was in front of a lot of fans and they made a name with a great debut album, then they disappeared, and for a while. This isn’t the place for that story, but they were missed, gone before they really started going (or getting night slots), a band that fit because they didn’t really fit. But everything eventually comes back and they finally made another album, Transit Transit, which might as well have been as good as the first, then the attendant tour, though taking their time again, now six years later. They also weren’t doing all the festivals, maybe since they didn’t want to play that grind again. This is a band that has gotten by with doing whatever they want, even if that meant they weren’t such an ongoing presence. So, with only two albums worth of solid material 11 years after they first made a splash, their hometown show at least got the El Rey, a mid-range venue that says you’re neither doing as great (like at the Wiltern) or as poor (smaller) as you could be in front of your own people. As much as I enjoy their material, I might not have considered the show but a buddy had to bail on his plans and he contacted me to take his tickets and we were free that night (even though I was just coming back from San Diego from the comic convention, going with Carla from the train station straight to Wilshire (but including dinner across the street first (then getting to the show just in time))). For this show the band at least got a sound-check and could work out any kinks beforehand. They also had an enclosed space they could manipulate to their ends, creating a tunnel that wrapped everyone in sound and darkness (which still worked, and without all the dust in the air and pressed up against bodies I didn't know). Then they had some abstract, grid-based visuals behind them, as if they needed to play up the math-rock artiness of their songs. They didn’t change the music so much, staying tight to accommodate the three-person set-up they carried into a live setting, though some differences could have been welcome just to give variety to the limited amount of material they had, especially to evolve after all this time. So, a good show, without having to be packed in under a tent in the middle of the afternoon heat.

Autloux’s set-list:

“Reappearing“

“Soft Scene“

“Hamster Suite“

“Plantlife“

“Junk For Code“

“Subzero Fun“

“Selectallcopy“

“Audience No. 2“

“Capital Kind of Strain“

“Anonymous“

“Brainwasher“

“Listen to The Order

“Turnstile Blues“

“The Science of Imaginary Solutions“

“Change My Head“

“Blanket“

Lush/Tamaryn, April 25, 2016 at the Roxy

I was getting into Lush back in the ‘90s at the same time as “Ladykillers” but at least it was an entry (one I should have connected to earlier but was helped along by my pen-pal Stephen), just before they broke up abruptly. I remember seeing an ad in the Weekly for the Glass House show they did back then, and knowing that it would have been a great show but not obsessed with them yet enough to get out to see it. I didn’t put much hope into them getting back together, since I know I missed that moment, though I picked up the Sing Sing album (then put it back down again), and figured they never recapture that moment that I missed. But their front-women were still alive, even if Miki had moved out of music (though answered the phone when Spin called to see what she was up to those days, more than once), so there was still a chance, but also a chance of mounting some comeback that would involve new music that would distract from the classic stuff I didn’t get until late. And so, as all bands do eventually, they reformed, which was fortunate for anyone to pay for wrongs done years ago. Though they never broke America (by not being sugary or slutty enough), they were big enough to sell out the Roxy in a second, and I happened to get in for tickets (you can't win unless you try). Even if they were only together to play Coachella, we’d already sworn off that fest, though they would have been a band that would make me even remotely consider it, just for them and even a shortened set. But this was also a band playing a festival doing other dates around it -- since they’re around anyway -- and getting around the proximity clause to make it possible for us, and to get a full set to boot. There’s a convoluted story about that show (how I originally would have missed it for Carla’s mom’s retirement party, then some minor miracle for the band to postpone that show then come up with a date I could make that wouldn’t threaten my marriage (but meaning I had to cancel the flight I booked to go to the San Francisco date)), but it got to include Josh, a buddy from work who had a story about meeting Miki in Chicago that always had me mystified. (This was also a trade with him for the Autolux tickets a few months later.) And so we got to experience the band again (or for the first time), and in a club that might have been small for them even on their first album. This show might have even been better, since they stuck to their best stuff, pushing Gala harder than it got over here, not bothering with any of the pandering lower-lights from Lovelife, and airing one of the tracks from the new Blind Spot EP, even if it was enough that they didn’t have to make a show of trying so hard to avoid a best-of set, which is what we wanted anyway. Up there, under the lights, they looked like this could have been a month after they last stepped off the stage, especially Miki (another rock crush). After this test for demand/warm-up, they did a full tour but I skipped it, knowing that trying to top this show would have just been greedy and foolish (though Carla reconsidered passing on it for a moment). I could finally live with having missed them the first time around. Opening the show was a special bonus, being Tamaryn, a moodier, more lavish cousin to Lush's early stuff, that the wife had gotten me into. I may not go to shows for the openers anymore but it’s a treat to get on something already familiar but, even better, might have seen on their own. (And I’ll skip the story of embarrassing myself in front of Ms. Tamaryn.) There may or may not have been a reason all those ‘90s girl-bands were getting back together at the same time, but if it was an epidemic, I didn’t have a problem being taken over by it.

Lush’s set-list:
“Undertow“ (Spooky remix; intro)
“De-Luxe“
“Breeze“
“Kiss Chase“
“Hypocrite“
“Lovelife
“Thoughtforms“
“Light From a Dead Star“
“Undertow“
“Lit Up“
“Etheriel“
“Scarlet“
“For Love“
“Out of Control“
“Ladykillers“
“Downer“
“Sweetness and Light“

“Stray“
“Desire Lines“
“Leaves Me Cold“

“Monochrome“

New Order, March 19, 2016 at the Shrine

Once again Corey had an extra ticket for a show, so it's good that our music tastes match up when it's important. I had been burned enough by New Order playing live (once was enough, even for a band I've been obsessed with for years) that I was hesitant, especially when the last time seeing them was good enough to not pave over that poisonous Coachella performance but at least leave a positive taste in my mouth for as long as I would go until they would put out new material good enough to compel me to see them live again. Music Response wasn't quite that material, but it wasn't Waiting for the Siren's Call, so something in the middle wouldn't make me opposed to seeing them. Though to hang out with a friend for an evening, I'd probably see anyone short of Dave Matthews Band (and it's a good thing none of my friends are into them (or we might not be friends.)). After missing the stop on the subway, we got there just in time, missing Run Run Run and a DJ or whoever played before, and got in our seats -- balcony, far right -- just as the lights went down. Of course they don't have much of a stage-show -- somehow Bernard pulls off making everyone look more interesting than him -- but they have always left the fireworks for the music, even with new stuff mixed in, and the half-dozen new songs got enough of a cordial reception to show that they still have fans hardcore enough to know the stuff in advance or polite enough to not show their boredom with stuff that wasn't what they've known by heart since well before their kids were born. "Bizarre Love Triangle," in particular, got a great response, making anyone wonder why they didn't switch it with "Blue Monday" and close strong with it. They still seem bored with playing, even with new stuff to energize them (off the newest album Music Complete), but it's hard to fault them when they've always been that way as well as being British. Then the sound was muddy, which might be why there aren't more rock shows at the Shrine, or Bernard didn't care he was speaking with a mush-mouth. Then the Joy Division songs dragged out from obligation (once they started they can't just stop (or leave it to Hook to play in his band)), including "Love Will Tear Us Apart," played yet again but at least as listlessly as everything else. No, no one ever got a chance to see Joy Division but a lot of us also didn't get to hear the best New Order songs, anything besides the hits, including "Regret," which they skipped yet again, but cheers for "Ceremony."

New Order's set-list:
"Singularity"
"Ceremony"
"Academic"
"Crystal"
"5 8 6"
"Restless"
"Your Silent Face"
"Tutti Frutti"
"People on the High Line"
"Bizarre Love Triangle"
"Waiting for the Sirens' Call"
"Plastic"
"The Perfect Kiss"
"True Faith"
"Temptation"

"Atmosphere" (Joy Division song)
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" (Joy Division song)
"Blue Monday"

Electric Six, March 18, 2016 at the Troubadour

Dylan deserved a make-up show for the disaster that was taking him to the Observatory to see the Electric Six, though you know I probably would have gone with the opportunity anyway. I got three tickets but Carla decided at the last minute to not go, so it was just me and my brother, getting there (after burgers in Studio City on the way) about 10 minutes before they went on, which was just fine, and we missed Parlour Tricks, the opener. Also since I was with a pre-21 Dylan there was no drinking but it was about the show. They played much of the same set they’d been doing for a while, with all the (should-have-been) hits, and some of the newest album Bitch Don’t Let Me Die! mixed in. I might have seen them enough to be able to call this a typical show, and part of their ongoing tour of the smaller and smaller clubs in the L.A. area, but being in the middle of the road also means there aren’t particularly bad ones. We saw the show then left.

Electric Six’s set-list:
“Synthesizer“
“After Hours“
“Down at McDonnelzzz“
“Dance Pattern“
“Roulette!“
“The New Shampoo“
“Gay Bar“
“Gay Bar Part Two“
“She's White“
“Night Vision“
“Dime, Dime, Penny Dime“
“Future Is in the Future“
“Improper Dancing“ (with "(Who The Hell Just) Call My Phone?" played in-between "stop!" and "continue!")
“Danger! High Voltage“
“Adam Levine“
“Formula 409“
“Dance Epidemic“
“I Buy the Drugs“

“Jimmy Carter“ (Dick (acoustic) & Tate)
“Dance Commander“

Pity Sex, December 18, 2015 at the Echo

Andrew goes to more shows than I do, and when we meet up for shows it's usually because we were going to go separately, but sometimes I can go because he has good taste in good bands to check out. I had a free Friday night so we met up to check out Pity Sex. I probably hadn’t heard of them save for an ad or a mention in the Weekly (it’s hard to miss that name) but there’s no reason to pass up a show at the Echo, the venue I most wish I’d visit more. Usually I’m there for big enough names that they pack out the place but the places gets some of the best up-and-comers on such a small stage that you know you couldn’t get much more intimate without knowing them personally. We were around the corner at Mohawk Bend having dinner and drinks so we missed Eskimeaux (rather on purpose, for the name alone) but also Colleen Green, a local gal who would have been part of the draw for us but we figured we’d see her again (which at least I did not). It was the first time I’d investigated a band on Amazon Music (then YouTube) to familiarize myself with them before the show, and they sounded better with the recorded versions. Scrappy, young bands can be electric in concert, which can easily be lost when recorded in the studio, but they can also get a little too sloppy live. But it could have also been the first glimpse of a band on the way up and we got to see them that close and without a big crowd, but apparently they dissolved after that (or didn’t, and just never came up on our radar again). Andrew and I kept going to shows at the Echo, though more without each other.

TV on the Radio, November 14, 2015 at the Theater at Ace Hotel

This was the last in our series of TV on the Radio L.A. shows for their Seeds tour, and it might have been the best one, even though we could have been over it by then. Red Bull was doing some promotion of a series of concerts, and with some fairly impressive acts, and this one was best for us. They got one of our bands to play our city one more time, at least. Also, our friends were hitting the show as well, so we could make it an evening together, even though we could only meet up for dinner beforehand and had to sit separately. Carla got great seats, not far from the stage, and fairly cheap, and those factors might have spoken to how much most bands don’t need to roll through a town three or more times in less than a year but we’re big enough fans to go again. For all the shows on that tour we hadn't even had the album but they played enough older stuff, and switched up the set-lists so it wasn’t the same performance. This tour was also more consistent than those before and it was a good show and a good night out. It’s a shame if Red Bull didn’t do more of those shows, and hopefully didn’t get burned by a business plan that didn’t expect the difficulty of promoting a concert and maybe not turning a profit from it, but it was good while it lasted.

TV on the Radio’s set-list:
“Young Liars“
“Lazerray“
“Golden Age“
“Happy Idiot“
“Could You“
“Winter“
“Wolf Like Me“
“Trouble“
“Province“
“Forgotten“
“DLZ“
“Staring at the Sun“

“Seeds“ (with Miguel)
“Adorn“ (Miguel cover) (with Miguel)
“Vitamin C“ (Can cover) (with Miguel)

Blur/Courtney Barnett, October 20, 2015 at the Hollywood Bowl

A friend of mine said some years back that if you were a Britpop fan (presumably from the ‘90s), out of Oasis, Suede, and Blur, you loved two of those but not all three. It’s stuck with me since then and I’ve found reasons to argue then not argue it. My love for Oasis is well-documented, but there’s some Suede stuff I don’t connect to, so I always figured it was them and that would automatically make me a Blur fan. But in considering most of their stuff I’ve had since early on, I can’t always be excited about listening to it. Some of it I’ve just gone with putting it on and took my fandom for them for granted. Looking at it closer, there were probably singles that I really liked, but some I hated (in particular “Boys & Girls,” which has taken me years and a Pet Shop Boys cover just to tolerate), and a lot of other material that doesn’t always move me. I’ve even seen them before, at a pretty lackluster show that wasn’t necessarily representative of what they built their name on, but Graham also wasn’t with them at that time, so they could get some slack, but provisionally. So all this could explain why I didn’t jump on getting Blur tickets for their Bowl show and would have been cool with missing it, but then Rachel came through with an extra on a free night and I went, almost like it was just any other show. It wasn’t a guarantee that I would have considered any show a bunch of my friends were going to, but being Blur helped. I rode over with Jen and the bunch of us got together before and picnicked, like usual for a Bowl show. Courtney Barnett opening was more of a draw than Blur themselves, and a coup of an opener, near her initial height, and should have been a big deal on her own. But part of her appeal is her slacker aesthetic and that’s hard to translate to such a massive space as the Bowl and she couldn’t fill it, especially with folks just wandering in and too cool and/or British to be taken over by her catchy songs about very pedestrian topics. It didn’t work but anyone could chalk it up to being the wrong venue for her and wishing to go back in time to see her at a more appropriate club (or, even better, a bar, if that could even happen) (and, for us, seeing more than just the second half of her set). Blur finally did their thing, even making a showing of putting in songs from their newest album, The Magic Whip like this was just another tour stop for an album so successful that everyone would want to hear the new stuff. They only did two shows in America, here (pulling a Tuesday night) and New York, so it could be assumed that this could have been a big deal for all the fans in the western half of the country, and a presumed showcase of new stuff might not sell well for those who are obsessed enough to only want classic stuff. And the new singles (if they even had any) didn’t catch on enough here to get more to fill the Bowl with, by my estimation from the cheap seats, about half full, and even most of those present lethargic at best, if because of L.A. cool or these fans not being the teeny-boppers they once were and were more content to stand back with arms crossed and hoping it would pick up and they would get more out of it than the just-enough that the band wanted to passively offer (even with Graham). We were dancing, helped when they wisely jump-started it with “There’s No Other Way” early on, even if that didn’t do anything for the field of empty seats where we were. No mention of Gorillaz, unless Damon’s lack of spirit could be attributed to having to drag along his old band when he could have played to more with the new, more energetic stuff by the ones who weren't Blur. If there’s an explanation for how Gorillaz got bigger in the States than Blur, it could be that he had contributors that actually still wanted to do the stuff, and material and a brand that could move with the time and stay fun and cool, instead of some stodgy English blokes with no big hit songs except for the “Woo Hoo” one that was completely unlike anything else they did and which had already been played to death and lost to the generation that would make them stars here. Not the show to polish their legendary status (if only somewhere else in the world) but the other show wrapped their series in less than a week and they could move on from whatever obligation they had, just like the States would go on with them only being a footnote in popular music from somewhere else. As for me, I got the Oasis side-projects and started getting more out of Suede.

Blur’s set-list:
“Music Box Instrumentals“ (PA intro)
“Go Out“
“There's No Other Way“
“Lonesome Street“
“Badhead“
“Ghost Ship“
“Coffee & TV“
“Out of Time“
“Caravan“
“Beetlebum“
“Thought I Was a Spaceman“
“Trimm Trabb“
“Tender“ (outro: "Don't fall for Trump/He's such a chump")
“Parklife“ (with Fred Armisen)
“Song 2“
“To the End“
“This Is a Low“

“Stereotypes“
“Girls & Boys“
“For Tomorrow“
“The Universal“

Courtney Barnett’s set-list:
"Avant Gardener"
"Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go to the Party"
"Small Poppies"
"Depreston"
"Elevator Operator"
"An Illustration of Loneliness (Sleepless in New York)"
"Dead Fox"
"Pedestrian at Best"

Garbage/Torres, October 6, 2015 at Humphrey’s By The Bay

I actually hadn’t originally planned to see Garbage for their 20th anniversary show for their self-titled debut album. I won’t say I’ve seen them enough, though I’ve seen them plenty, and they’d already played most of it over all the times I’ve seen them since they played their first club show for those songs. But Corey got tickets for the San Diego stop and would have needed someone to go with, and since it was around the time of the wedding, it became another bachelor party. Though for my other bachelor party event we were drinking and carousing and partying, I didn't necessarily need to do all those things to celebrate the end of my bachelorhood, and just getting to see a show is totally fine. So I drove down for the evening and left the next day, and I got to see a new venue. Humphrey’s By The Bay is a place I’ve noticed many mid-range bands use as their San Diego stop. It’s basically the court-yard of a hotel that might as well be a concert venue for the open space, but it’s near the water so it has a romantic ambiance, then no seats (at least for that show), and most of all, it’s not a large place, much more intimate than most of the places those bands would play in L.A., especially the Greek (where I normally would have seen them). Maybe there are bigger places to play in San Diego, or maybe that’s just the size of the crowd they’re playing to, or their fair-weather fans there for the hits have drifted away, but it fit well for the show. A run-through of their first album is fairly unnecessary, as those songs are still cherished enough to play well and enjoyed even still in their standard set, but if they can sell a show with it, they might as well. They only get one year to celebrate an anniversary. It might be more encouraging to get old-school fans out to see that album since they might not be getting as many new ones with new material. It was a trend for a while for bands to play whole albums and they did pretty well with them, at least as a reason to tour without new stuff that was grabbing anyone like it once it did.  For that night they laid on the strategic nostalgia, opening with “Subhuman,” their first, pre-album single (and what would have gotten me to the show if I'd known they were going to play it), then stopping half-way through to play a set of era-appropriate B-sides, which was a treasure enough to make it a show unique from every other time we’d seen them, even the very first. The album, played chronologically except for the mid-set pause, could have been said to have come in remixed cuts, some heavier than others, or could be said to have been updated into new versions, since they’ve been playing those songs for 20 years and have found new arrangements and ways to make them fresh to play. It might have thrown those fans who wanted to hear the album just as they have for two decades -- which doesn't make much sense since they already have it that way -- but it sounded fine to me, especially as I get to hear the evolution of those tunes (“Vow”) and the few they rarely play ("A Stroke of Luck"), haven't in years (“Fix Me Now”), or I haven't heard ("Dog New Tricks"). Then of course an encore with some tracks from other albums, maybe some hits, as per the usual for bands doing this.  The whole thing was unnecessary but if this keeps them going and helps to get new music out so we can get a new show next time, it’s good enough. It’s not likely I would be completely content with anything but a show of rarities and deep cuts anyway, so any time they’re playing the hits in a standard set is a version of another show anyway, though the change of scenery did more than anything to change up the familiar formula.  And I finally got “Subhuman” (albeit heavily remixed).  Torres opened, which we didn’t feel we had to give much attention to, so we wandered for a bit, not drinking, but partying in our own way. And plenty fantastical, to be in a setting close to the water with a great band that has held up all these years.

Garbage's set-list:

"Alien Sex Fiend" (20 Years Queer video intro)

"Subhuman"

"Supervixen"

"Queer"

"Only Happy When It Rains"

"As Heaven Is Wide"

"Not My Idea"

"A Stroke of Luck"

"Girl Don't Come"

"The Butterfly Collector" (the Jam cover)

"Trip My Wire"

"Sleep"

"Vow"

"Stupid Girl"

"Dog New Tricks"

"My Lover's Box"

"Fix Me Now"

"Milk"

"Kick My Ass" (Vic Chesnutt cover)

"Driving Lesson"

"Push It"

"Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)"

"#1 Crush"

Front-242/Youth Code/High-Functioning Flesh, September 27, 2015 at Avalon

My social life during college almost completely revolved around a night or two a week at Club Metro in Rubidoux, just outside of Riverside, rarely meeting girls, having our first drinks, and discovering a lot of music. We never went on the heavy goth/industrial nights, not as much as Corey did, but the usual KROQ nights early in the week would mix in the dark but  more accessible stuff that didn't get on the radio and that was my first exposure to a lot of that stuff. I felt a kinship with the goth scene, even if I didn't dress the part (though my concert shirts and Converses made me stand out from them just as they tried to stand out from normal folk, so maybe we were just understood each other). For the industrial stuff I usually didn't go past Nine Inch Nails but I gained a familiarity with some of the rest and while I came to like a lot of it, some I just didn't come around on. And when we didn't completely dig something it became a mark and Corey, who was immersed in the scene and everything in it, became the easiest one. The track we ridiculed most was the one with "FIRST YOU LOCK THE TARGET", which was ridiculous to us that someone would put those words to coarse, pre-programmed Euro-junk. I don't recall dancing (or what one might charitably call "dancing") to it, but maybe. Maybe I would have come around to it by being around it longer (or getting with a girl who was into it) but I let it stand knowing it was Front-242 and that it was Corey's thing. Years later, long after Metro had closed (which was also years after I'd been there), Front-242 were (still?) a touring entity (or making for a reunion) and they came to the States. As if anyone had to ask, Corey was in, even coming up from San Diego for it. As this was in a line of Corey's high hopes with an extra ticket, I said I'd take it, mostly for an evening to hang out with Corey. I'd also only been to what was once the Palace a scant few times since it had morphed into Avalon, if there was even a reason for that. It wasn't a concert venue like it used to be (or at all), as they probably discovered they pulled more cash by being a dance club, though not for any scene I would go anywhere near (and maybe still not even if I were in that age-range). Apparently they would accommodate the occasional band, though it probably didn't hurt that they could be considered a dance thing (in some world, if not this one) and that it was on a Sunday, which is probably usually dead for a club. I hadn't been near a goth scene in years -- the last was maybe Club Perversion those few times (and however long ago that was) -- and had rarely of late been out for a night in Hollywood save for straight to the Fonda, but it wasn't too dissimilar than it used to be, if the crowd was considerably older, and wider, and daddier or mommier, and their make-up choices were even more ill-advised than they were 20 years ago. I had covered my bets and dressed in black anyway. Corey doesn't go to a lot of shows so he tries to get there in the time it says on the ticket, as if the headliners would deign to go on anywhere near that time (says the guy who thought he could time Morrissey). But it gave us plenty of time to hang out and catch up, and for Corey to search for former Metro-rats and for me to people-watch (since every once in a while the look actually works). Youth Code and High-Functioning Flesh opened, and we heard a snippet enough to catch the one that was only a few generations away from a Euro-goth/industrial band that I didn't know in the first place and the other sounded like NIN (as if any of them wouldn't). Seeing them could have been adventurous but Corey, being unfamiliar with them (they were never played at Mero), was content to hang outside (there's a joke there about vampires but I'll skip it). Closer to midnight it was time for Front-242, bringing the same electronica that seems as ridiculous as DJs passing off canned beats that could have been programmed weeks ago and the show performed by hitting PLAY. The music actually wasn't bad -- there's a reason these guys are respected as pioneers in their field -- though if anything was a facsimile of an original or echoes of remixes, it was lost to me. Also nothing I would dance to anymore (as if I could pick it up back in the day anyway) but I was cool to be part of the crowd that were actually there for the performance. The stage could have used more of a visual component, except for some abstract image shot up on a screen, since the focus -- the two guys in front singing/growling/barking -- were old enough to not only be parents like most of the audience but probably more like grandparents (and perhaps beyond). Paunches, jowls, and all, they at least made the effort. If they were going to be out on stage, they couldn't hide it (especially since they hadn't established the use of helmets from the beginning). Maybe it's not even important how they look, and it was enough respect for them to not care how they'd aged, but there was a time when guys that old playing some version of rock music -- and not even playing live instruments at that -- would have been laughed if not forced off a stage (much less trusted). But as it was, it was about the music and the respect and, presumably, saying that had seem them, nowhere near their height but before they became dust. It was also enough to know I wasn't carrying any lingering remnants of Metro, outside of the music I picked up and followed, wine coolers and Midori sours, and friends that would have worn eye-liner so you could have on a comfortable Offspring T-shirt (since it was 1993).

Front-242's set-list:
"Moldavia"
"Body to Body"
"7Rain"
"Take One"
"W.Y.H.I.W.Y.G." (no break before next)
"Master Hit"
"Together"
"Triple X Girlfriend"
"Quite Unusual"
"No Shuffle"
"Funkahdafi"
"U-Men"
"Commando Mix"
"Religion"
"Headhunter"
"Im Rhythmus bleiben"
"Welcome to Paradise"

"Tragedy >For You<"
"Punish Your Machine"